AUTUMN MORNING IN THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. 15 



looking out for is the dark apparition of tlie iridescent Papilio 

 philenor fluttering in ecstasy over some thistle-head, and pro- 

 bably quite freshly emerged, though P. troilm is already almost 

 vanished altogether, only perhaps some shattered female seeking 

 spice- wood whereon to deposit her eggs is to be seen. The larvae 

 of this fine Pajnlio are to be found, after much searching, coiled 

 up in the leaves of the spice-wood bushes, though far from 

 abundant, and now getting more and more scarce, most of them 

 being already in pupa for the winter. Papilio ajax is still to be 

 seen, though rarel}', and sometimes a freshly-emerged s^Decimen, 

 very darkly coloured, will fall a victim to my net ; the papaw 

 bushes {Asimina triloba) have fed numbers of ajax larvas, but all 

 these are in pupa now for the winter, only an occasional straggler 

 being tempted to emerge to enjoy the warmth and sunshine of 

 these short autumn days, instead of waiting in patience till 

 the spring. Danais p)lexippus is to be seen everywhere ; these 

 huge butterflies fly plentifully even in the streets of the little 

 town of Covington, an abundant brood having only just recently 

 sprung upon us. Sometimes we are reminded of our friends 

 across the water by the sudden joy of beholding Vanessa antiopa 

 sail majestically by, and then the glorious scenery of the 

 Alleghanies grows dim, and our eyes and our thoughts are 

 dreaming of autumn forests in Central Europe, where this 

 lovely insect is no doubt now still on the wing, and indeed 

 probably much more abundant than here, where it is decidedly 

 scarce. V. atalanta is also here, just as gay and gladsome as it 

 ever is over there in the Old World, and presenting, as far as I 

 can see, no variation whatever. V. huntera, too, was here a 

 fortnight ago, but they are gone now ; though worn specimens 

 of Eaptoieta daiidia are still to be met with, and even Argynnis 

 cyhele is not absolutely vanished, and females in shocking con- 

 dition are still fluttering about looking for violet leaves to lay 

 their eggs on, the habits of the larvae being exactly similar to 

 those of our closely allied fritillaries. Limenitis astyanax is over 

 now, and their larvae are preparing to go into hybernation on 

 the wild cherry and other woodland trees. Only once did we 

 take a specimen of L. disippus, and then it so closely resembled 

 its model, Danais plexippiis, that it was caught under the im- 

 pression that it was that species ; this specimen laid nine ova, 

 but though they all hatched out, they refused to feed on the 

 leaves of the wild cherry, whereon a young astyanax larva was 

 flourishing, and therefore all died. Phyciodes tharos may still 

 be seen in woodland districts, and Hesperia viontivaga, old and 

 faded now, about completes all we have, or can hope to have, 

 during this autumn ramble in the Alleghany Mountains. 



Covington, Virginia : October 1st, 1910. 



